THE DAY THE CHEQUE BOOK ARRIVED

This may seem a pretty minor event, after all we have all received cheque books at some time and my behaviour at such times is to grunt under my breath to myself "what do I want this for?" and then chuck it in some drawer somewhere. This is mainly because I have been very selfish in the past and regarded any financial dealings my wife's job to action as, after all, she is a Bank Manager and clearly she is the most skilled to deal with all things financial. This is greatly to my shame and I am very aware that she could have financially stripped me bare & left me and I wouldn't even have known how it had happened. She frequently brings bits of paper across to me and says sign there, there (turns over the page) and there and there. In fact this reminds me very much of Radar doing much the same to Col. Henry Blake (and Col. Potter) in MASH, where both men were bamboozled by a plenitude of forms and the innate Alpha male tendency to switch off when overloaded by 'boring stuff'. The more paper you chuck at us the more we go off into dream land, it is almost on the level of horse whispering or snake charming, were gone man, just solid gone.
   And yet, today was The Day The Cheque book arrived and I even bothered to open it, look at it and gave it a thorough look over. Because after some thirty years in 'Corporate' land I have finally had the ball's to start my own business. This new arrival was the first real evidence of this, it was my business cheque book for 'The Old Bakery'. whilst it may seem a little immature to be so chuffed about receiving this item you have to remember that for 30 years I have been 'conditioned' but this...... well this represents the actuality of what I am doing. To me the task is massive, I'm not buying a business, but creating one. I'm not implementing someone's vision but creating my own. I'm not 'running away' or indeed retiring (as so many of my dear colleagues put it on my card) but I am trying to forge a new, different, life, so it was, and is, important, the day the cheque book arrived.